Tuesday, April 18, 2017

I don’t cook Thai food at home often, mostly because there
are at least a dozen such restaurants within walking distance, but when I do,
there’s nothing I enjoy more than this spicy Thai basil chicken. Thai basil
sold separately.

No, I didn’t use the real “Holy” basil, but even with
regular basil, this simple recipe is spectacular. Aromatic basil is the perfect
herb for pairing with the slightly sweet, sort of salty, and possibly spicy,
chopped meat.

And yes, you really do want to chop, or grind your own
chicken. Even if the worst-case scenario I shared in the video isn’t something
you’re grocery store would do, it’s still very nice to know exactly what you’re
eating, as well as being able to chop it as coarsely as you want.

If you decide to top with an egg, I should mention that
they’re usually fried much more aggressively, with the edges getting brown and
crispy. I tend to prefer something a little more gently cooked, but either way,
or with none at all, I really do hope you give this delicious basil chicken
recipe a try soon.Enjoy!

Ingredients for two large or four smaller portions:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound freshly chopped chicken thighs

1/4 cup sliced shallots

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons minced Thai chilies, Serrano, or other hot
pepper

1/3 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon soy sauce, or as needed

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 bunch basil leaves, sliced very thin with a sharp knife
(about a cup once sliced)

Will be saving this one for a night my girlfriend is away and I can dial the spiciness up to my preferred level, I think. ;) Just curious, though, if I can find Thai basil, should I pull back the amount a little bit? Or is it best to just go full throttle?

Thanks for the great recipe Chef John! You're my go to for new cooking methods even though I work in a James Beard award winning kitchen because you give more insight to techniques my Sous chefs don't have time to talk through. I do love Thai food, and wanted to make sure to point out to others looking to cook this that the sweeter basil we get here is actually going to be at least as suitable than the purplish Thai Basil that you can sometimes find at your nice markets. Holy Basil has a more earthy flavor, while Thai Basil is pretty strong stuff that almost has some minty elements going on with it. That being said, you are the season-er of your Thai dish du jour.

I just busted out the cast-iron skillet and made something as similar to this as ingredients would allow, and it was excellent, and the technique was a lot of fun. I also learned that there are things I didn't know about basil. My findings:

The specific kind of basil called for in this dish is 'holy basil' -- ocimum tenuiflorum or ocimum sanctum -- but the Indians also use it and call it tulasi, thulasi, or tulsi. So perhaps one could find it at an Indian grocery.

When you see 'Thai Basil' in a regular shop, it is almost certainly a Thai variety of 'ordinary' basil, and not quite what we're after here, although it is certainly the basil of choice for other Thai dishes.

Just made this! Easy to make and super tasty with just a mild bite of spice. As another added plus it wasn't too expensive to make which is awesome for this poor but starving university student! Definitely will make this again!

Chef john, This recipe was amazing!! I wouldn't change a thing. I ended up using this recipe and making spicy Thai basil egg rolls by adding a little rice and nappa cabbage, and thenow rolling them in egg roll wrappers and frying. I can't recommend it enough. Thank you for sharing ur knowledge and passion.

Just made this and it was perfect. I wouldn't change a thing to the recipe. I ended up using the left overs the next day in some spicy Thai basil egg rolls by simply adding some nappa cabbage for some ceunch, and rolling them in agg roll wrappers in a cigar shape and frying. They will without a doubt be on the menu for my next get together. Thank you chef john!!!!!

I put this together with Thai basil and about 8 red Thai chili. Note: If you plan to use the red Thai, you can expect about triple the heat than what is presented with Jalapeno and Serrano.

The only problem with the recipe is that it only calls for a pound of chicken and it was so tasty that I wished it would have been tripled (That was a joke, but what I'm not joking about is the fantastic flavor). A small alteration that you may like is using bib lettuce for half the recipe as a cup instead of full rice. I found the texture differences to be pretty awesome. In any event, wonderful dish that flies together and has amazing flavor.

Thank you Chef John. I really love your asian dishes! This came out superb. Followed the recipe, but added like 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tbp oyster sauce. I really thought the thai basil would overpower the dish, but it was just perfect.

Served with a lightly seasoned asian slaw, jasmine rice and Schneider Weisse which I think complemented it well.

Made this twice now. Absolutely fabulous as written! One thing I don't get...I don't see the directions on your site and not all of your recipes are on Allrecipes. I want to print it out. I know they are on the video, but I don't always remember and have to watch it again and again, especially if I haven't made it in awhile. Are the directions there in the blog? If so, How do I get to them? It's they are not there, then should you please start putting them in with the list of ingredients? An icon for a printer friendly version would also be a big plus. I have no problem both viewing the video and visiting your blog. I know that is how you make a living. I get it. But please meet us halfway. (Or educate me to find where I can get what I am missing).

I appreciate all of your hard work very much and depend on you for a lot of my best recipes.